


I'll Keep Coming Back

by Felloffalot



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Post-Time Skip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2020-08-10 09:56:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20133553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Felloffalot/pseuds/Felloffalot
Summary: Annette's fears are realized when the girl she loves more than anything else in the world returns home in a stretcher.





	I'll Keep Coming Back

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place after the timeskip, but it's mostly route-agnostic, and I tried to keep it as spoiler free as possible. However, Annette and Mercedes' supports with each other are recommended viewing before this.

It was supposed to be a simple mission. Go into the forest, deal with the bandits, be back at the monastery before dinner time. That’s what the Professor said. And yet, after more than an hour of pacing around the front gate and twiddling her thumbs, Annette hadn’t seen neither hide nor hair of the Professor and his party. It wasn’t like Annette to waste so much time on idle time-wasting, but she couldn’t focus on anything else at the moment.

Not while Mercedes was still out there.

Annette knew Mercedes wouldn’t like it if she found out how much Annette was worrying about her, but it was impossible for Annette _not _to worry. The world they lived in was at turmoil, with thieves, traitors, and enemies around every corner – what was Annette supposed to do? Sit back and pretend like she wasn’t at all concerned that the love of her life was going to return to the monastery in a casket? At least when they were on the battlefield, Annette could fight to protect her. Right now, she was powerless.

Suddenly, in the distance, Annette heard the sound of the front gate opening. She rushed as fast as her small legs could carry her to greet the soldiers, inevitably weary with tired eyes. They murmured amongst themselves, giving her half-hearted greetings as she pushed past them, desperately looking for any sign of the Professor or Mercedes.

“Annette,” Byleth said. “What are you doing out so late?” Rather than her finding him, the Professor had found her. He gestured to move to the side, out of the way of the soldiers who just wanted to get to the barracks and rest.

“I could ask you the same thing,” Annette said. “I thought you were supposed to be back hours ago.”

“We were. However, there was an… unexpected complication. Still, I’m happy to report there were no major casualties.” Annette breathed a sigh of relief and smiled – at least she knew Mercedes wasn’t dead.

“That’s good to hear. So then, where’s Mercedes?” Annette looked back at the soldiers, completely missing the fact that the Professor was grimacing.

“Mercedes is… I’m afraid that she was exposed to the enemy’s ambush.”

“What?”

“Fortunately, she sustained no major injuries, and I’ve been told she’ll make a full recovery. However, she will likely be out of commission for at least a few weeks.”

“How…” Annette couldn’t decide whether she was more confused or angry. Mercedes – _her _Mercedes – got hurt. And she wasn’t there to protect her. “How could you let this happen?”

“I acknowledge the fact that I’m to blame for not anticipating this. However-“

“You were supposed to protect her!” Annette gave Byleth a light push and rushed out into the crowd, desperately searching for any sign of Mercedes or her men. She saw a stretcher being carried by two of Mercedes’ men, and when she ran to its side, she found Mercedes, knocked unconscious and covered in more haphazardly put-together bandages and splints than Annette could count. The very sight of it made Annette want to cry, but there was no time for tears when she was this angry.

“Mercie – hey, Mercie!” Annette put one of her hands on Mercedes’ arm, the warmth from her body at least serving as a solemn confirmation that she was still breathing. “It’s gonna be alright, okay? I’m here for you.”

“Annette, please,” Byleth said, approaching from behind and putting a hand on Annette’s shoulder. “There’s nothing you can do. Let the apothecaries take care of this.”

“Don’t touch me!” Annette quickly turned, slapping Byleth’s hand away, her rage emanate on her face. “This is all your fault! You should have brought me with you! If I had been there, then I… I could have…” Annette shook her head and ran off after the stretcher, leaving Byleth behind. He sighed, and before he could chase after her, Hubert approached, forcing him to attend to matters other than Annette’s rage.

-

Only mere days had passed, but for Annette, it felt like weeks – anxiously waiting for the confirmation that Mercedes was well enough for a visit. The thought of Mercedes laying around in some musty old room without a friend in sight, in agonizing pain with no end in sight – it was _killing_ her. So when the confirmation came that it was okay for Annette to see her, you best know she rushed off as soon as she was able.

Mercedes was allowed to recover in her room, which was nice – far better than having to hang around in the crowded infirmary. When Annette entered, she was immediately hit with the sweet scent of flowers, one which matched not only the general elegance and cleanliness of Mercedes’ room, but also Mercedes herself, who still managed to look radiant even when much of her exposed skin was covered in bandages. She laid under a blanket, a wistful expression on her face, till she noticed Annette and smiled.

“Annie,” Mercedes said. “So good to see you.” Mercedes attempted to sit up, using one of her arms to prop herself up, but grunted in pain and was forced to lay back down.

“Hey,” Annette said, walking over to the bedside, crouching down to be level with Mercedes, and placing her hands on the side of the bed. “Don’t push yourself, alright?”

“You telling somebody else not to push themselves.” Mercedes giggled. “That’s ironic.”

“Well, do as I say, not as I do.” Annette smiled, but it couldn’t hide the sadness in her eyes. Mercedes’ eyes became half-lidded, and her smile turned into a frown.

“You’ve been worrying about me, haven’t you?”

“I guess it’s kinda obvious, huh?” Annette looked at the floor and closed her hands into fists, scrunching up the blanket. “I know I shouldn’t, and I know you can protect yourself, but…” Annette sighed.

“Don’t blame the Professor, okay? He did what he could. Nobody could have seen that coming.”

“I… I don’t. I did at first, but not anymore.” Annette closed her eyes. “I blame myself. I wasn’t there, and I should’ve been. I should’ve protected you.”

“Oh, Annie…” Mercedes reached out her hand that was closest to Annette, cupping her cheek and brushing away the hair close to her eye with her thumb. Annette leaned into it, Mercedes’ touch being a great reprieve for her. “I know how hard it is. I worry all the time when you’re gone and I can’t come with you too, you know.”

“You do?”

“I do. But I always remind myself that we’re both here for a reason. We can both protect ourselves – so as long as you keep fighting, I know you’ll always come home. You might get scrapped up and injured, but that’s nothing you can’t recover from.” Mercedes tilted her head and gave Annette a warm gaze, who instantly felt her heart melting. “So trust in me, okay? Because I trust in you.”

“O… Okay.” Annette felt herself being overcome by a hundred different emotions – “love” being the primary one – but she managed to force out a reply. “I trust you, Mercie.”

“And I trust you, Annie. So don’t worry about me. I’ll always come back to you. And when I do, I want you to have something sweet prepared for me to eat.”

“Okay, but I can’t guarantee it’ll be edible.” They both giggled, and Mercedes retracted her hand from Annette’s cheek. However, before it could return to the bed, Annette suddenly reached up and grabbed it with both hands.

“Hey, Mercie,” Annette said, looking Mercedes in the face with a determined look. “I have an idea. After the war, when it’s all said and done, let’s get married.”

Mercedes coughed, suddenly and forcefully, slightly from her injuries, mostly from shock.

“A-Are you okay?” Annette said. “Should I get help?”

“I-I’m fine,” Mercedes said, a few minor coughs peppered in her speech. “Please d-don’t joke around with me like that right now, Annie.”

“Huh?” Annette tilted her head. “It wasn’t a joke. I to be by your side, now and forever. On the battlefield and off”

“Please, Annie,” Mercedes said, shaking her head. “Now’s no time to mess around with me like that.” When Mercedes fully recovered from her coughing fit and looked Annette in the face, however, she didn’t see the face of somebody joking – rather, she saw sorrow. Anguish.

“Why would I joke about this? I said I love you more than anything else in the world, remember?” Annette removed her hands from Mercedes’ own and places them on her knees. “Or… did you think that was a joke too?”

“Ah… no. I thought the ‘love’ you were referring to was… on a lower level. Platonic. It never once crossed my mind that you were talking about romance.”

“So I thought my feelings were mutual this entire time, and I was wrong, huh?” Annette let out a defeated chuckle, but the smirk on her face was betrayed by a single tear rolling down her face.

“Hey,” Mercedes said, reaching out her hand once more to use her index finger to wipe the tear from Annette’s face. “Just because I didn’t take you seriously then doesn’t mean I’m not taking you seriously now. And frankly, it sounds quite nice. Spending the rest of my life with the girl I love…”

“You mean…?”

“But it’s a bit too soon for marriage. There are steps to this type of thing, you know. So when the war is over, and we have all the time we need to ourselves, let’s go on dates, and spend more time together, and fall more and more in love with each other until you’re ready to get down on one knee and give me the best marriage proposal in all of Fódlan.” Mercedes breathed a wistful sigh. “That sounds pretty nice, don’t you think?”

“Yeah,” Annette said. She leaped up into a standing position, leaving Mercedes’ hand dangling in midair. “Yeah, that sounds incredible!” Annette was half-tempted to lean down and give Mercedes a big hug, but she stopped herself in time to realize that was a bad idea, so she settled for taking hold of Mercedes’ hand with her own, and gently pressing a kiss onto the back of it.

They looked each other in the eyes, paused, and then they laughed, till their eyes welled up a bit and Mercedes laughed just a bit too hard. Annette eventually had to leave for the day, leaving Mercedes to rest, but she would come back. They would always come to each other.

**Author's Note:**

> The finished product ended up being a little bit different than I envisioned, but I wanted to run with that "wait, we aren't dating?" angle. I know this directly contradicts their paired ending, but whatever.


End file.
